Claes w



(No'Model.)

C. W. BMAN.

` LEAD ANDCRAYON HOLDER.

Patented July?, 1885.

UNITED STATES PATENT Erica lCLAES V. BOMAN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THE EAGLE PENCIL COMPANY, OF SAME'PLACE.

LEAD AND CRAYoN HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 321,785, dated July 7, 1885.

' Application filed March 17, 1885. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Beit known that I, CLAES W. BOMAN, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Lead and Crayon Holders, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is an improvement upon lead and crayon holders of th'e well-known Automatic77 type-that is to say, lead and crayon holders in which the sheath or handle and lead-containing tube or receiver are combined with longitudinally movable clamping or grasping jaws, aspring for retracting said j aws, and a pressure-cap for moving` the jaws forward against the stress of the spring. In the form of such holder now in the market the grasping-jaws bite or close directly upon the lead. This is disadvantageous, in that the lead is thereby apt to be indented, scored, and even broken. In order to withstand this action of the jaws the lead has been made thicker, or of greater diameter than otherwise would be necessary, and even this expedient has not been eifectivein the case of the softer kinds of leads, such as ink-leads or copying-leads. To remedy this defect is the object of my invention, which consists in combining with the parts above recited, as making up an automatic holder, a collapsible nozzle from which the lead protrudes, and in arranging the jaws so that they shall close upon the said nozzle instead of upon the lead itself. In this way I can get a broad clamping-bearing of the nozzle upon the lead instead of the sharp-biting action of the jaws; and I accomplish this result with but little change in the structure of the pencil, all that is required being to add the collapsible nozzle, which in practice I form upon the front end of the lead-containing tube or receiver, the latter being stationary and separate from the longitudinally movable graspingljaws, instead of carrying and mov# ing lengthwise with said jaws, as in the ordinary automatic.

The nature of my invention and the manner in which it is or may be carried into effect will be readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a longitudinal central section of an Automatic lead and crayon holder embody ing my invention, with the lead protruding and clamped. Fig. 2isa like section of the same with the jaws pushed forward and the parts in the position they occupy when the lead is released. g 5 5 A is the sheath or handle, provided at its rear end with a metal lining or fixed internal sleeve, B, from the rear end of which projects the pressurecap C. Dare the jaws connected by a tubular stem, D', with the pressure-cap, 60 and E is the retracting-spring, confined between the pressure-cap and an annular shoulder, a, in the sleeve B.

rIhe parts thus far described do not materially differ in structure and operation from the likeparts in the ordinary Automatic.

The jaws D are spring-acting and normally stand open, and they are, when retracted by their spring E, drawn into the contracted front end, A', of the sheath, which causes them to 0 close upon and grasp the article placed between them. Within the jaws, and extending lengthwise of the case, is the lead-containing tube or receiver F, terminating at its front end in a split or collapsible nozzle, F', which projects from the front of the sheath in position to be grasped by the jaws D. The rear end of the lead tube or receiver F is firmly attached to the sheath A or its metal lining B by a cross-pin or rivet, b, which passes 8O through longitudinal slots c in the stem D', which slots are of a length to permit the requisite longitudinal movement of the jaws. The lead a: is contained in the stationary tube F.

When the parts are in normal position and s: the lead is retracted, the jaws D close tightly u upon the collapsible nozzle and shut it against escape of the lead. When, on the other hand., the jaws are pushed forward, as shown in Fig.

2, they expand and release the collapsible or split nozzle F, which, like the jaws, also expands, (being'for this purpose made of spring metah) and the lead consequently is free to move. When 1t protrudes to the desired extent, pressure is removed from the cap C, the 9 5 retractingspring at once returns the jawsto normal position, and in thus moving they are,

by the contracted front end, A', caused to close tightly upon the collapsible nozzle F'. 'Ihe latter holds the lead firmly and in an eX- roo tended bearing, and thus while clamping it securely in place exercises no injurious action upon it. It maybe found desirable to slightly sharpen or bend inwardly the front edges of the nozzle, as indicated in the drawings, so that they can takea positive hold on the lead; but in this event the biting aetion is but slight and practically inappreeiable, so faras injurious results are concerned.

It Will be noted that my improvement 1equires little, if any, Change in the construction of theAutomatie holder. y

I have in illustration of my invention rep resented the lead tube or receiver with its eollapsible or split nozzle as attached to the ease. But this is not indispensable; it may be at taehed to the longitudinally-movable stem that carries the grasping-jaws. What is esseutial is that there should be a collapsible or split nozzle for the lead, and that the jaws which close upon this nozzle should have a longitudinal movement with respect to that part of the sheath by which they are caused to clam p the nozzle.

CLAES XV. ROMAN.

XVitiiesses:

S. C. Bimisrnn, Jon. Ww SWAINH. 

